Molding apparatus



35 scribed.

UNITED STATES I P TENT OFFICE;

JOHN B.- MCCORMICK, on oLYoK MASSACHUSETTS; 1

MOLDING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 381,156, ges April 17,1388. Application filed Decembcr 12, 1881' Serial No. 257,727. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN B. MCCORMICK, of Holyoke, in the county ofHampdeu and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have. invented a new anduseful Improvement in Apparatus for Use in Molding Turbine Wheels, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had to theaccompanying draw ings, forming part thereof,

Myinvention relates to'the art of casting turbine water-wheels, and hasfor its obj ect to Y provide means for accurately adjusting and holdingthe buckets of such a wheel within the mold in such manner that theoperation of casting the hub thereto may be greatly expedited, and thatwhen so cast the hub will form with the buckets a compact wheel of greatstrength and durability.

To this end my invention consists in the apparatus hereinafter fullydescribed, and

particularly pointed out in the claims. Referring to the drawings, inwhich like letters designate like parts in the several figures, Figure 1is a view in perspective of one of the buckets. ."Fig. 2is a view of thepat tern for the wheel-hub. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the adjusting andholding ring. Fig. 4 illustrates the manner in which the buckets areheld by the hub-pattern and ring. previous to the introduction of sandto the mold. Fig. 5-

is a vertical central sectionyof the mold after being rammed with sand,thehub-pattern being omitted in order to more clear-lyshow thearrangement of the buckets.- Figs. 6 and 7 show slight modifications,hereinafter de- The letters A A A designate a portion of the buckets ofa turbine wheel, which are cast in the usualjmanner, each bucket beingprovided with the tapering tenon a upon'the edge which is to be unitedto the hub, and having a teatlike projection, a, at one end of saidtenon and a lug, a, having pin a at the opposite end thereof, as clearlyshown in Fig. 1. The projection a is of less diameter at its center thanat its ends, and therefore when the metal composing the hub is castaround it and the tenon a, which is of dovetail shape in crosssection, avery strong connection between the hub and buckets is secured. It is tofacilitate the operation of casting the hub to the buckets in suchmanner that the distance between the latter canbe accuratelypredeterminedthat the apparatus now to be describedhas been devised byme. r

The letter B designates the pattern for the hub, which pattern may bemade from wood or metal,-and which is provided at its small end with aseries of orifices, b, to receive the pinsa on the buckets, and near itslarge end with a series of orifices, b, to receive the pro; jections a.on the buckets, the orifices of each series being arranged at regularintervals aboutv 1 the axis of the pattern and extending in adirecti0n"paralle1 with said axis,as shown. When the body of the patternBis made of ported in such manner that their outer edges are freeto movetoward and away from each other; and as it is essential to'the formationv wood, I prefer to fit a metallic cap, O, upon its of a perfectwheelthat the distance between said outer edges, especially at the pointwhere the discharge occurs when the wheel is in operation,shall beexactly uniform with respect to all the buckets, I have furthermore dewvised the adjusting and holding ring D (shown in Fig. 3) to accomplishthis result. The'inner diameter of this ring is less than the di'-*amcter of the circle described about theouter edges of the buckets whenthe latter areap-Q plied to pattern B,as justdescribed,andtherefore saidring is made in two semicircular sections, pivoted together at one endand detachably connected together at their opposite ends by means of abolt, as shown, or i-n' any con ve'nient manner, so that the ring can beopened Q "for the purpose -'of applying it to and remov-. ing it fromthe buckets.

V v A series of recesses,

d, of slightly greater width than thethickness of buckets A at theirouter edge, are formed within the inner surface of ring -D'at uniformdistances apart and corresponding innurnber with the number of bucketswith whichjthe Wheel is to be provided. The ring is applied tothe-buckets, as shown in Fig. 4, with the outer edge of each bucketlocatedwithinone of the recesses d, and wedges or keys d are theninserted in said recesses upon one or both sides of the bucket therein,by means of which the buckets are adjusted laterally relatively to eachother to the desired position and are securely locked in such position.To facilitate the action of said wedges or keys against the sides of thebuckets, I prefer to make the recesses d in the ring with taperingsides, as shown; but such shape is not essential. I have shown thewedges or keys (1 as the means for securing the adjustment of thebuckets within the recesses of thering, for the reason that they form asimple and effective means for such purpose; but it will be obvious topersons skilled in the art that other wellknown devices could beemployed in lieu of said wedges or keys without the exercise ofinvention. g.

The operation of the apparatus in the formation of themold is asfollows: The pattern B being placed upon the bottom board in theposition shown in Fig. 2, the buckets A, which have been previouslycast, are applied to said pattern, as shown in Fig. 4. The ring D isthen opened to permit it to pass the upper ends of the buckets, and thenclosed about the buckets,with the outer edge of each of the latterresting within one of the recesses 01, and is supported in about theposition shown in Fig. 4 by wooden blocks (not shown) placed beneath itand resting upon the bottom board, or in any otherconvenient manner. Thewedges or keys d are then applied to one or both sides of each bucketwithin recesses d, in such manner that the spaces between thedischarging edges of the buckets are uniform throughout. The flasks 1,2, and 3 (see Fig. 5) are then placed in position upon the bottom boardand are rammed with sand in the usual manner. The mold is then invertedupon the bottom board, as shown in Fig. 5, the flasks 1 and 2 removed,and the sand removed around the outer edges of the buckets until ring Dis reached, when said ring is opened and removed, the undisturbed sandbetween the buckets holding them securely in position. The cores forforming the usual rim about the buckets are then inserted, flasks 1 and2 replaced, and the same again rammed with sand. The pattern B is thenwithdrawn, the sand between tenons a on the buckets removed so as toexpose said tenons,the usual central core-the position occupied by whichis indicated by the recesses shown in Fig. 5-is placed in position, cope4 is applied, and the casting of the hub proceeded with in the usualmanner.

It will be observed that by the use of this tion of preparing the moldfor casting the hut 6o to the buckets can be very quickly performed,

and that the relative positions of the buckets can be accuratelypredetermined.

The pattern B will be made to correspond to buckets of various shapesand sizes, and its orifices can be shaped to correspond with theprojections on the buckets. In Fig. 6, for example, I have shown-aportion of abucket having a dovetail-shaped lug instead of the lug a andpin a and for such a bucket the cap on the pattern B would be providedwith a series of recesses of similar shape, as shown in Fig. 7, in lieuof theorifices b. 1

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The apparatus for use in molding turbine Wheels herein described,consisting of hub-pattern B, having the series of orifices b at itssmall end and the series of orifices b near its large end, arrangedsubstantially as shown, whereby it is adapted to pivotally support thewheel-buckets, a ring having within its inner surface a series ofrecesses to receive the outer edges of the buckets, anddevices,substantially as described, for adjusting and securing thebuckets within said recesses, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

2. The apparatus herein described, consisting of the hub-pattern havingtheseries of orifices b at one end and the series of orifices b near itsopposite end, ring D, having the series of recesses d, and wedges orkeys d, substantially as described.

3. The combination,with aseries of buckets,- A, having lugs a, providedwith pins a and projections a, of hub-pattern B, having a series oforifices at one end to receive said pins a and a series of orifices nearits opposite end to receive said projections a, ring D, composed of twosemicircular sections pivotedtogether at one end and having within itsinner surface a series of recesses, d, and wedges or keys (2,substantially as set forth.

4. The ring'D, composed of two semicircular sections pivoted together atone end and secured together at their opposite ends by a bolt or othersimilar device, said ring having within its inner surface a series ofrecesses, d,

arranged at regular intervals about said inner surface, substantially asand for the purpose described.

7, JOHN B MCCORMICK. Witnesses:

W. H. CHAPMAN, J. E. CHAPMAN.

